The Top Two Percent of America's Farm Subsidy Recipients, 1985-1994

Research

Chapter 2. Total Deficiency Payments

Deficiency payments have formed the core of Federal farm subsidy programs over the past decade. Deficiency payments for upland cotton, feed grains (corn, barley, sorghum and oats), wheat and rice accounted for $71 billion (65 percent) of the $108.9 billion in total farm subsidy payments made between 1985 and 1994. As this chapter makes clear, like farm subsidies generally, the all-important deficiency payments are highly concentrated among a relative handful of subsidy recipients.

Recipient Category: All Recipients

Just 2 percent of all those who received deficiency payments over the past decade